Saturday, March 29, 2014

Tomboys Not Welcome, Bible Says

Many of you have probably seen this story circulating the web: http://www.abc27.com/story/25061872/little-girl-taken-out-of-christian-school-after-told-shes-too-much-like-a-boy

Basically, an 8-year-old girl's guardians, her grandparents, received the following letter, and the grandparents pulled her from the school: http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wset/SKMBT_60114032514080.pdf


I'm writing this post in support of Timberlake Christian Schools.

I applaud them for going against the grain in this liberal society in which we live. First it's eight-year-olds who wear sneakers, have short hair, and are into sports. Then it's boys who have a diamond stud or hair that creeps down below the ears. Next thing you now, we have gays and lesbians everywhere! It's an epidemic of sin, and it must be stopped!

As Jesus clearly states in Bullshitticus 3:16-18, wearing boyish clothes turns girls into lesbians and is therefore forbidden in a Christian school. In fact, Jesus, in all His time on earth, said nothing about loving children and not turning them away from Him. He clearly states that we are to try and impose standards of dress and hairstyles on them in order to mold them to be like Him; Timberlake Christian Schools supports this standard of Christ, for which I give them props.

I will now break down Timberlake Christian Schools' letter paragraph by paragraph to show why I fully support their decision. 


First paragraph: The school official, Mrs. Becky Bowman (who's probably receiving all sorts of hate mail right now), summarizes some of the previous contact she's had with the grandparents. She starts off by asserting that the school "care[s] very deeply" about Sunnie and her well-being. She ends the first paragraph by saying, "I understand that Sunnie is being counseled professionally regarding her identity and image in order to steer her in a particular direction to handle these identity issues."

Clearly, if a child is getting counseling for an issue, it means they are dealing with some sort of sin issue or unbiblical lifestyle. The appropriate, Christian way to deal with issues is to pray them away ("pray the gay away" was coined by Jesus in his Sermon Under the Rainbow) or to pretend like they are not occurring. The best way for a school to show their love and concern for a child who is struggling is to insert themselves personally in the situation and indicate that they should be removed from their friends and teachers.

Second paragraph: Mrs. Bowman reiterates that Timberlake Christian Schools is a "religious, Bible-believing" place that believes it must "work in conjunction with" a student's home to help shape students into Christlike people.

Then Mrs. Bowman states that the school reserves the right to refuse admission  to an applicant/discontinue a student's enrollment if "the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home is counter to or in opposition to the biblical lifestyle that the school teaches." According to Mrs. Bowman, "this includes, but is not necessarily limited to, living in, condoning or supporting sexual immorality; practicing homosexual lifestyle or alternative gender identity; promoting such practices; or otherwise having the inability to support the moral principles of the school. We base this standard on Bible principles as found in Leviticus 20:13a; Matthew 19:4-6; and I Corinthians 6:9-20."

First, let's dig directly into Scripture, God's infallible, Holy Word, which we can take and apply to our lives using sound exegetical practices. Let's look first at Leviticus 20:13a, which reads, "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable." Since Timberlake Christian Schools is a Bible-based educational institution, I am certain that they understand sound hermeneutics and just accidentally left out the rest of the verse, so I will include it here: "They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

So, according to this verse, TCS is actually being very gracious to Sunnie by not taking her out and letting her classmates stone her for her issues with gender identity (because that's pretty much the same thing as having "sexual relations" with someone of the same sex, and even though the verse is specifically talking about men, we Christians can safely inject our own opinions into the verses because we're enlightened and holy and assume that the same goes for women who lie with women).

Since TCS practices such sound hermeneutics, I assume they also hold their staff members and all the parents of the students who attend their school to the standard set forth just a few verses later in Leviticus chapter 20: If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people (verse 18). And that they ensure that no one who works for them ever wears "clothing woven of two kinds of material" (Lev. 19:19b), because I am certain these superstar Christians would never pick and choose parts of the Bible to follow, which is, again, why I fully support them.

Now that we've examined Leviticus, let's dig into Matthew 19:4-6, where Jesus is answering the Pharisees, who are trying to test him by asking him if it's lawful for a man to divorce his wife for "any reason" (verse 3). Jesus says, in verses 4-6, "Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

The Biblical principle here is, obviously, that God looks down upon little girls who, by 21st century standards, dress like a boy. This verse, although the context indicates it's about divorce, can be interpreted by those of us who are more spiritual to mean that little girls who dress like boys are not welcome in a Christian school (don't skip down to verse 14).

Finally, I want to dissect 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, which starts off, "Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

Since none of these types of people will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, I am certain that TCS, in order to maintain consistency, has also sent home letters to the parents or guardians of any students who drunkards, adulterers, or swindlers (I'm lookin' at you, sneaky kid who tricks your peers into trading their Oreos for your carrot sticks).

Also, since TCS says that they home environment must be one that supports the Biblical morals of the school, I have no doubt that the administration has personally contacted every parent or guardian of their students to find out of any of them idolize celebrities or football teams, or if anyone has ever cheated on a spouse, or if any of them are against tax increases for corporations (GREEDY bastards!).

Third paragraph: Mrs. Bowman states that the school believes that unless Sunnie and her family "clearly understand that God has made her a female and that her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity," her current school isn't the "best place for her future education." Mrs. Bowman continues, asserting that the school's foundation is in direct opposition to Sunnie's current "direction."

You all saw the verses above. They indicate, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Bible forbids girls from being tomboys.

Fourth paragraph: Here, Mrs. Bowman indicates that Sunnie should not re-enroll next fall unless she's willing to follow the "biblical standard" set forth above. TCS isn't the best place for Sunnie to continue her education because those guiding her, presumably her teachers or principals, might give her conflicting advice and guidance.

The Biblical standards that were set forth above, accoring to the verses the letter gave, are as follows:

1) A man should not have sexual relations with a man as he does with a woman. Perhaps Sunnie is somehow violating this standard. Nothing is impossible!

2) A man shall leave his parents and cleave to his wife. Perhaps Sunnie is not allowing the little boy who tried to marry her on the playground to leave his parents and cling to her?

3) Drunkards, swindlers, sexually immoral, adulterers, idolators, greedy, or men who have sex with men will not enter the kingdom of heaven (aka "any Christian institution" aka "the church" aka "TCS"). Despite the fact that Matthew 19:14 says, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,'" clearly Jesus had a distorted view of children; he didn't realize how corrupt they actually are! Obviously if he saw Sunnie, with her short hair and sneakers, he'd turn her away.

Therefore, despite the fact that I know this opinion will not be popular, I must reiterate my full support for Timberlake Christian Schools. They have truly captured Jesus' primary message of excluding those who dress or act differently and excluding children from the kingdom of heaven. Bravo!


**Disclaimer: If you don't know what "satire" is, then you've missed the whole point of this post. If you find this post offensive, fine; you're entitled to your feelings. I am sickened by the bigotry and judgment that "Christians" exercise...I am tired of Christians making mountains out of molehills and digging for specks in eight-year-olds' eyes while ignoring the massive planks in their own.*

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Goodbye, Doctor. Hello, Ivories!

Lent is here. I'm not Catholic, but in my adult life, I've felt called to take 40 days to reflect on my relationship with God and the activities and habits that might be getting in the way of my search for a closer walk with Him.

I also decided to replace the unproductive things with productive ones, which brings me to share a (super short) video clip from today.

For Lent, I am giving up TV and Netflix. Yes, even the Doctor will not be seeing me for a while :( I don't think TV is inherently negative, but I was using it to relax and relieve stress TOO often. Not healthy.

And instead, I am going to plop down in front of the piano every time I feel the urge to grab the remote. Music, Christian or not, is a way I express myself.
I'm constantly amazed at the new melodies that can be created, the way music can make me feel so overwhelmed I want to cry or so jubilant I want to get up and dance. Music perfectly expresses whatever I'm feeling in my soul when words fail me.

But like many things I once enjoyed, playing the piano has given way to grading papers, and the times I used to head to the prayer room in Kendrick Hall to sing praise songs with friends has been replaced with vegging out in front of the TV to relieve stress.

Sadly, I think many of my adult friends don't even know how passionately I love music (especially singing). I truly, truly love it.

So I'm going to take 40 days to shake the rust of my fingers and clear the dust off my vocal cords. Actually, my goal is to finish the worship song I'm writing by Easter...we shall see...   

Anyway, tonight on Facebook, I asked for song names, because those are songs I'm going to sit down and "cover" during these 40 days of Lent. THANK YOU for those of you who answered the call ;)
Side note: covering these songs will probably motivate me to get my piano tuned...which really needed to happen six months ago :-D

So, here's just a sneak peek at some of what you MIGHT see on my blog in the coming days. Thank you, Christin, for the suggestion ;)

Blessings to you all!